Button block



A e. w, wooDwARD.

BUTTON BLOCK.

APPLlcATloN man Nov.* 29. 1920.

1,419,597',` -PatenaJu-ne 13, 1922. l

G. w. woonwARn.

BuUoN'BLoQK.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 29, I923.

1,419,597. Ptentedgrune 13,1922.

4 SHEETS-SHEET Z.

G. W. WOODWARD.

BUTTON BLOCK. APPLICATION FILED Nov. 29. |923` la 2 Twww ,nm/.fm Od 1nmow fw@ 1 U en nowmdm mm. @www m4 nmn m @6m m Ga# D.. h, www r*nl www.DUd ma D@ i CQ., JIL I 4 SHEETS-SHEET 4. izq. 5.

G. W. WOODWARD.

BUTTON BLCK.' APPLICATION FILED '.Nov, 29, 192s.

1.3i; DCI/ranja oit lli 9,'.

UNITED s'rAIss rAisNT oriuciez.'V

eARRnTT w.` WOODWARD, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, AssIGNOR TO WOODWARD AUTO-MATIC CONTROL CORPORATION, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION lor ILLIBUTTON BLOCK.

Specification'of Letters Patent. Patented June 13, 1922 Application ledNovember 29, 1920i. Serial No. 427,140.

To ZZ `whom t may conce/m: I

lle it known that l. Gaizirntrr lV, lVoOnwAiio, a citizen oi'f theUnited States, residing at 5056 lllashington Blvd., Chicago, in thecounty ot Coolrand State oit Illinois, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Button Blocks, ot which the following is u specification;

This inventionV relates to button blocks and the like and is 'fullydescribed in the "following sigieciijication and shown in theaccompanying drawings in which:

AFigure 1 is a plan view ot the button block applied to the steeringcolumn ot an automobile lilig. 2 is an enlarged plan view ottheintei-ici' mechanism with the cover removed;`

Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical section on the line IE5-l of Fig. 1;

Fig. 41 is a partial section on the line fi-Ll 1 and Fig. 5; y 5 is apartialv section on tlieline 5-5 ot Fi el; and I lil t3, T and 8 arepartial sections on-the lines GWG, 7-7 and 8-8 ol Fig. 2.

ln the embodiment illustrated7 the button block consists el" a housinghaving Atop and` bottoni sections l() and 11 respectively, which aresecured together hy fnieans ot bolts12. The lower section is clamped tothe stationary tube 1B l'orming part oit the steering column and yissupported thereby, above the steering wheel. I i i 1 'llie button blockis adapted to be, used with inv automatic shittii'ig mechanism disclosedin my application` Serial No.

zlQ-l. ln this case, however. the wires 15 actas tension members whereasthe wires 915% etc., oit my previous application are under compression.The wires 49, (50, Sil, S5, S6 and 87 are tension members and the wires15 can be connected directly to theseI to obtain the same previousdisclosure. The wires 15 pass down through the` tube 16 which isrotatably mounted inthe tube 17 which in turn is rotatably mounted inthe tube 13. vThe spark advance lever 18 and the hand throttle controllever 19 are mounted on the tubes 16 and 17 respectively,

and Control. the spark advance and throttle in a well known manner. o

Each of the wires 15 as previously stated, is connected to mechanismwhich shitts the transmission gears to reverse. neutral, 4first speed,intermediate speed or high speed, and

`pressure is applied to them.

. time. ot the levers 20 to 2Li-A inclusive so that-no two one Ot thesewires is connected to mechanism.

ifor applying and releasing the brake. AThese wires are secured lattheir upper end by means oit screws 15a to a seriesof levers 20, 21, 23,2l'and 25 respectively which are pivotally mounted on pins 21 and aredrawn downwardly by a series'of springs in the `rear shitting mechanism`(not shown). Plungers 26 are slidably mounted in the upper section oithe housing and have longitudinal guide-ways therein `in which slidepins 27 by which the plungers are prevented trom turning. Buttons 28 aresecured to the upper end Oiitliese plungers and each is marked as shownin Figure `1 to designate vthe particular setting of the gears which itcontrols; R is YFor reverse, N tor neutral, 1 ttor first speedetc.

A plate 2S) issupported above the levers 20, 21, etc., on posts 3() andhas a series of itrictionally mounted thereon by means of screws 82, asto be movable when some y At the sideiot the housing, 'these stopsengage abutment 11a fan-like stops 31 which are hingedly but;

and are sovtormed that they will permit but one oi? they lugs 33 `topass these stops at any One ot the lugs 33 is placed on each ol thelevers controlling the gear-shifting mechanism can be Operated at thesame time ,lt will be Observed, however, thatl no lug is placed on thelever 25 which controlsqthe brake-operating mechanism as it is desiredto be able to `apply the brake at any-time regardless oi the positionolE the `gear shifting mechanism. ,f l

The letters and numerals on the buttons 23 are made with radium so to bevisible in the darl'and openings 34 are formed in the upper housingsection 10 vimmediately in iti-ont ot the controlling neutral and first,second and third speeds. `Above the arcuate plate 29 is secured anarcuate shift 35 having series olf' radium spots 36 therein which lieimmediately beneath the openings 34. As

` shown in Figure`2 all of these radium spots 36 are covered excepttheone infront ot the button which had been last actuated. Thus theposition of the transmission gears is lshown at night by means of theradium spot and in the day time the same spot while not luminous isreadily visible for the reason that only one will be shownto beuncovered by the members 31. No radium spot .36`is )laced in Vlront oitthe reverse button marked l Vlor the reason that they are seldom usedand then only for a short time. That the gears are in reverse isindicated by the absence ot the radium spot in any ot' the openings 34.

In order to prevent accidental actuation oi the reverse button, I haveprovided its plunger 29a with a releasing pin 37 as shown in Figs. l, 4and 5 which must be pressed inwardly before the button Q8 can bedepressed. The pin 3T is slidable in a hole in the upper housing sectionl() which is at right angles to the hole in which the plunger 529 'sslidable, the peripheries ot' these two holes slightly overlapping asshown in Fics. 4and 5. The plunger Q9 has notch 29') which is acontinuation of the periphery o't' the hole in which the pin 37 isslidable when the plunger 292L is at the top ol: its throw. The pin 3Talso has a notch 3T which coincident with the periphery7 oit the hole inwhich the plunger 29 is slidable. The hole 37, however, is normally heldout oit coincidence with the periphery ot the hole in which the pin 29is located, by means oli a spring Thus it will be vseen that the reversebutton cannot be depressed until the releasing pin 37 is pushed in untilthe opening 37 therein comes into regis ration with the plunger 29a. Thepin 37 is prevented trom turning by the pin 39 which is guided in theslot 40.

A Afiat arcuate strip 4l lies upon the arcuate ledge il forming part otthe lower housing` section il, as shown in Figure 3 and is held thereonby means oli a series ol guides 42. The strip 4l. is broadened as shownin Figure 2 into a plate 4l to which is secured a yoke 43 as shown inFigure 8 in which is slidably mounted the eccentric 44 which is securedto the revolving tumbler 45 ot a wel l known type oi lock which ismounted in the housing. The arcuate strip 4l has secured thereto aseries oil? blocks 46 which lie. at one side ot the path ot the levers20j 2l, etc.. as shown in Figures 2 and G when the strip ell. is movedto the unlocked position. Thiy 's done by means oli the key 47 which.turns the tumbler 45.

With the engine running` the brake remains applied only so long as thelever is depressed. ln order. theretore, to lock the lever 25 so that itcannot be moved either to set or release the brake, a pin 25 as shown in.Figure is secured to the outer end therro't and a block i611 is securedAto 'the plate Ll l,

so that as the plate 4lu is moved by means of the key 47 it willwithdraw the block 4C and permit movement ot the lever 25, se `ting andreleasing the brake. As the plate 4l, however, is moved back to itslocking position as shown Vin dotted lines, the block 4G is moved intothe path ot the pin Q5 so that it cannot be depressed 'trom the Al'ullline position shown in liigure 7. It the plate 4ln is moved while thelever 25 is in the depressed position as shown in. dotted lines, theplate 41a will pass over the pin Q5 thereby preventing the brake frombeing released.

The arcuate strip 4l is also provided with hooks 41h which are adaptedto engage he lugs 10b secured to the upper housing section l() as shownin Figure (i, thereby securely locking the upper and lower housingsections together when the key 47 is removed.

While I have shown and described but a single embodiment oit myinvention, it is to be understood that it is capable ot manymodiiica'tions. Changes7 therefore, in the construction and arrangementmay be made without departing from the spirit and scope ot the inventionas disclosed in the appended claims, in which it is my intention toclaim all novelty inherent in my invention as broadly as possible inview ot the prior art.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A. button block comprising a series olE buttons, a series ot levers,each movable by a button7 an element movable by each lever. means torpreventing more than one ol." said levers being moved from its normalposition at a time, and means uncovered by said last mentioned meansilor indicating which button was last depressed.

A. button bloclr comprising a series oi" buttons7 each ot' which isoperatively connected to a member to be moved. a housingfor said membersconsistingl el? top and bottom sections and a lock for locking` saidsei-- tions together and tor locking all ol'A said members againstmovement.

A button block comprising a .series ol buttons, a series ot levers, eachmovable by a button. an element movable by each lever. a series oitspaced members 'tor preventing more than one oli said levers being`moved Ytrom its normal position at a time. and means opposite eachbutton and visible in the dark and norn'lally covered by said spacedmembers, said means being` uncovered by the last operated button torindicating which button was last depri-issed.

GARRETT lV. lVOODlVARD.

l l O

